Description

Rare Crew-owned / "Sieger" cover

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Flown Crew-Signed "Sieger" Cover #137,
with Signed and Notarized Certification. A lightweight
philatelic cover with a color cachet based on the Apollo 15 mission
insignia. At upper left is printed the following: "This envelope
was/ carried to the moon/ aboard the Apollo 15/ #137 of 300
to the/ lunar surface in/ L. M. 'Falcon'" (the number is
handwritten). At lower left are the signatures of the crew:
"Dave Scott", "Al Worden", and "Jim Irwin". It
bears a 10¢ "Antarctic Treaty" stamp cancelled on the launch date
of July 26, 1971, at Kennedy Space Center. At lower right is a
se-tenant pair of 8¢ "United States in Space" / "Decade of
Achievement" stamps cancelled on board the U.S.S. Okinawa on
the splashdown date of August 7, 1971. At upper right on the verso
is a small serial number "262 ADH" written in blue ink by
NASA's general counsel S. Neil Hosenball at the time of
confiscation. Inside is an unflown printed card with the following
explanatory text: "This cover is #137 of 300 postmarked just
prior to/ the launch of Apollo 15 on July 26, 1971 at Kennedy/
Space Center; stowed aboard the spacecraft in a sealed/ fireproof
packet; carried to the lunar surface in LM/ 'FALCON'; returned to
earth in CM 'ENDEAVOUR';/ and postmarked immediately after
splashdown on August/ 7, 1971 by the U. S. Navy Postal Station
aboard/ the recovery ship USS OKINAWA. [signed] David R. Scott/
July 19, 1983". Both very fine save for light soiling on verso
of cover.

Accompanying is an original notarized typed Certification letter,
one page, 8.5" x 11", July 19, 1983. It was created for this
particular "Cover No. 137" and has been signed by all three
crewmembers: "Alfred M. Worden", "David R. Scott",
and "James B. Irwin". It explains the chain of provenance
from start to finish. The complete text is available on our
website.

The story behind these famous, moon surface-landed covers is
extraordinary. In 1970, a German stamp dealer by the name of
Hermann Sieger set out to recruit an Apollo crew to carry some
philatelic covers to the moon and back. The Apollo 15 crew agreed
to carry one hundred covers for a payment of $7000 to each of them.
The agreement was that they would not be sold until after the
Apollo program wrapped up. Along with Sieger's covers, the
astronauts added 300 of their own (actually 298 as two of the 300
were destroyed before the flight). The NASA rule was that the
astronauts had to obtain permission prior to taking anything with
them on the spacecraft. For unknown reasons, these were never
reported. All the covers were cancelled just after midnight the day
of the flight and then rushed through the Manned Spacecraft
Operations Building, where they were vacuum-packed and sealed in
fireproof fiberglass. They then went to Launch Complex 39A where
Scott took the package and put in a pocket of his spacesuit. These
were not properly manifested. After the flight, the crew had the
covers stamped and cancelled onboard the rescue ship. They signed
the covers on the way back to Houston. Shortly thereafter, the one
hundred covers were forwarded to Siegel in Germany and he
immediately began to sell them. The astronauts made efforts to
retrieve the covers, but failed. They returned his payments but a
congressional inquiry caused NASA to suspend all three from active
flight status. The 298 remaining covers were confiscated and held
until 1983 when NASA settled Al Worden's lawsuit out of court and
returned the covers to the crew. It was at that point that they
drafted a certificate of authenticity for each cover such as this
one.

1. They were the crew members of the United States Lunar Mission - Apollo 15 during the period from July 26 to August 7, 1971;

2. Postal covers were carried aboard the Apollo 15 Mission, which postal clovers were stamped and postmarked at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on the date of the launch, July 26, 1971, and carried aboard the Apollo 15 Spacecraft during theentire term of the Mission, to include orbit oflanding on [initialed in margin AMW, DS, JBI] the moon, and were returned to the Earth at the termination of the Mission on August 7, 1971. At that time, the covers were again stamped and postmarked aboard the U.S.S. Okinawa, Pacific Ocean, and signed by each of the Astronauts, COLONEL ALFRED M. WORDEN, COLONEL DAVID R. SCOTT and COLONEL JAMES B. IRWIN;

3. The postal covers were in the possession of one or more of the undersigned until 1972, at which time they were deposited with the United States Government; and

4. The undersigned have this date inspected Postal Cover No. 137, bearing NASA Serial No. 262, and aver, affirm and certify that said Postal Cover is a cover which was carried aboard the United States Lunar Mission - Apollo 15.

The undersigned have this date executed this Certification for the purpose of identifying said Postal Cover and certifying that said Postal Cover was carried aboard the United States Lunar Mission - Apollo 15.

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